Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 42 The Ninja's Resolve

"We originally planned to intercept him before he arrived in Konoha so we wouldn't have to face him. What should we do now?" The tall, beautiful woman seemed to be playfully scolding him without any warning, but Kakashi dared not underestimate her.

Although Mizuki is isolated from the world, Konoha has still managed to investigate several exceptionally talented ninjas. This beauty possesses both Lava Release and Boil Release bloodline limits; a single, light kiss can melt an opponent into nothingness. She is the most likely ninja to become the next Mizukage.

Logically speaking, a small country like the Land of Waves, which even the intelligence department would overlook, shouldn't attract ninjas of this caliber. That bully who was driven away... could he be some big shot?

"You've come here for the Land of Waves? Is such a small place worth Mizuki's intervention?"

"Konoha even sent Kakashi, so are they really completely unaware of this matter?"

"I'm just here to mentor students."

"What a coincidence, me too."

After a fruitless tug-of-war, with neither side willing to back down an inch, the beautiful woman finally waved her hand and chose to retreat.

"In that case, let's meet in the Land of Waves. Hopefully, you're fast enough to collect the client's body in time!"

Kakashi's words, which were undoubtedly provocative, did not ease his mind. He gripped his weapon and glanced at Naruto. The child, understanding the implication, reported, "They really left."

"I haven't asked you this before, Naruto, what is your sensory range?"

"..." What is the strength of a normal sensory type? He didn't know either, so he could only give a random number, "About... barely enough to reach the gates of Konoha?"

Kakashi's only visible eye showed a hint of shock, which quickly faded before he regained his composure. He asked, "Then why did you only react when they had surrounded us?"

Why? Of course, it's to give his overly relaxed teammates a good thrashing.

"Sorry, I was too excited about going out for the first time, so I didn't pay attention to my surroundings all the time..." Naruto lowered his head and admitted his mistake with "apology".

Sasuke stepped forward and said, "I didn't observe my surroundings carefully either."

Sakura struggled to suppress her trembling and said, "...Me...me too."

"This is a one-time exception." Kakashi's intention wasn't to reprimand the children, but to make them realize the seriousness of carrying out missions. "Any small oversight could threaten a ninja's life. If you want to live, you'd better be on your guard!"

"Furthermore, Mr. Keisha, shouldn't you explain why a ninja is appearing in a C-rank mission?" Kakashi's tone was less calm when facing a client who had misrepresented the mission's rank. Such clients were a major taboo among ninjas. The rank system was designed to ensure that every ninja received a suitable mission, preventing them from risking their lives. Lying about the rank and concealing crucial information was tantamount to playing with a ninja's life!

Keisha finally got up from the ground, his trembling from fear and his bewildered expression genuine. "...I...I don't know either. This was a request from Mr. Tori, and his requirements were all written down on paper...How could such a small place like the Land of Waves have gotten involved with ninjas? The waves we were recently repelled were indeed samurai bandits!"

Kakashi silently observed the middleman delivering the request, assessing whether he might be hiding anything. He was already considering abandoning the mission; if the other party was Mei Terumi, he would have to devote himself entirely to his battle with her, unable to attend to the students. This was Team 7's first mission outside the base, and he didn't want to... lose anyone.

“He’s telling the truth.” Naruto spoke up as Keisha’s explanation began to become incoherent. “My senses include the ability to sense emotions. He was scared, and he wasn’t lying.”

Naruto always had a knack for creating shock in strange places. Kakashi, who had never heard of a ninja who could sense emotions, looked at Naruto incredulously.

"The Hidden Mist ninjas just now didn't seem to have any ill intentions towards us, so I didn't pay much attention to them. I thought they were just passing by," Naruto added, explaining why he hadn't given them a warning immediately.

Can you be absolutely certain that your perception is accurate?

"determine."

Kakashi asked seriously, "What emotion am I in right now?"

"The strongest emotion I can sense is doubt. Teacher, don't you believe me?" Naruto looked up and met Kakashi's gaze. With his full sensory perception of a single person, he could actually detect much more. If emotions were described by color, Kakashi's color would undoubtedly be chaos.

He was a little shocked, mostly doubtful, a little surprised, and… a little sad.

But why be sad? Humans are truly hard to understand.

The Hidden Mist ninja's intentions were actually quite easy to guess. Their display of strength as a show of force, and their surprise attack on the client, were simply a ploy to force Konoha to back down. Continuing forward risked the ninjas' lives, while retreating to Konoha for reinforcements meant the client, far away in the Land of Waves, might already be dead. The Hidden Mist certainly didn't want a direct confrontation with Konoha; it would be detrimental to the village, which had just recovered from the Blood Mist Era. But they had reasons they couldn't abandon this mission.

After explaining the situation, Kakashi handed the decision over to his students. Despite his concern for their lives, Kakashi harbored a secret expectation deep down; he wanted to see what his students would look like when they truly entered the ninja world.

“I want to continue. That older sister doesn’t seem like the type to be difficult to communicate with.” Naruto, as always, said something that was reasonable yet slightly absurd.

Sasuke offered no reason, simply siding with Naruto and declaring, "Continue with the plan."

Sakura was terrified by the girl who had just attacked her. Even though it was only a brief exchange, she realized the gap between herself and the girl. How could she, who couldn't even hold her weapon properly, catch up with Naruto and Sasuke? If Naruto hadn't used Earth Release: Earth Wall to immediately take over her opponent, would she have died?

Should I give up? Should I be the only deserter? No, there must still be a way to use her, just like in that exercise, where only I, who was completely insignificant, could do it!

“I… also want to continue implementing it.”

Naruto grinned, hooked his arms around the necks of his two companions, and laughed, "Then, we'd better do our best together!"

The somber atmosphere vanished instantly, and even Sakura smiled. Kakashi, seeing the children already discussing tactical strategies, quickly stopped them. After all, this was a forest, the easiest place to be ambushed; even with sensory abilities, they couldn't let their guard down!

"Then we'd better speed up, or Mr. Taoli will be in danger."

"Yes!!"